Taken For Granted
by Serene Death
Summary: [post KHII] Leon always takes Yuffie for granted, but when he hurts her and she starts going out of her way to stay away from him, what will he think? [Squiffie and some minor Clerith]
1. The Problem

Yuffie Kisaragi chose the wrong time to start listening to Leon's angry rants. She had annoyed him to his breaking point yet again and he had, surprisingly, snapped. It had only happened four times; Leon never really showed his emotions in general. This time was different, however.

* * *

Yuffie knew she had annoyed him. She sat across from Leon, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

_Maybe I'll actually listen this time…just to hear Squallie out_, she thought with an evil grin.

"Stupid, idiotic girl! My name is** Leon**! L-_E_-**O**-N!" Leon growled, as if he was speaking to a four-year-old. "Can't you get it through your thick skull! GET IT RIGHT! No, in fact, just do me a favor, and _stay out of my life_!" Leon snapped.

_Cloud had once scolded Leon for taking Yuffie for granted._

"_Tch…don't meddle in my business, Strife…" Leon said. The spiky-haired blond had glared at him._

"_Don't take my sister"-Yuffie and Cloud had fondly referred to each other as brother and sister ever since Yuffie helped Cloud ask out Aerith-"for granted. You'll regret it," Cloud warned. Leon's grip on the Gunblade became loose as he smirked._

"_I doubt that."_

* * *

The ninja stared at Leon, her indigo eyes darkening with hurt. She searched her mind for a snappy comeback, but she couldn't find anything. Sure, Leon didn't say anything absolutely horrid, but she had heard the general hate and dislike in his voice. Yuffie opened her mouth, and then closed it. She repeated it once more. Her heart, broken and mangled, beat with pain in her chest. She couldn't break her gaze away from Leon's stormy gray eyes. Instead, Yuffie clenched her fist and dashed away.

Leon stared at the retreating figure with surprise. What had happened! In all the days that Leon had snapped, Yuffie had never, EVER ran away. Most of the time, she would:

1) Act serious for two seconds and then burst out laughing,

2) Giggle and continue to annoy him, or…

3) Totally ignore him and attack him.

He shrugged it off.

_She'll be okay tomorrow_…he thought with certainty. _Hell, she'll be okay by tonight._

A little part of Leon, however, was filled with guilt. Had he really hurt her that bad?

* * *

Yuffie gulped, willing herself not to cry. She blinked away her tears, and swallowed thickly, fighting to control her emotions.

"…_stay out of my life!"_

…_Fine,_ she thought with grim resolution. _I will. I'm not needed._ She took a breath, wiped her eyes just to make sure they were dry, and then strolled through the door. A fake, bright smile was plastered onto her face.

"Heeeeyyy, lovebirds!" she teased as Cloud and Aerith, surprised, pulled away hastily. Both were blushing bright red, but Cloud had a satisfied smirk on his face. Yuffie winced. The only hard part about staying away from Leon?

Oh, yeah. She was in **_love_** with him. Yuffie loved Leon just as much as Aerith loved Cloud.

"Y-Yuffie!" Aerith stuttered; her hands folded delicately as she sat down. The ninja envied the flower-girl. _She's so graceful, and-and beautiful, and-and…_

Aerith was the spitting image of beauty and grace, while Yuffie, on the other hand, was a tomboy with no manners and a never-ending fountain of energy.

"Yuffie," Cloud greeted. His lips twitched into a smirk, but for a second he looked confused. "Where's Leon?" he asked. Usually the Gunblade wielder followed in afterwards, looking tired and worn out compared to the hyperactive Yuffie.

"Oh, Sq—Leon? He's still out training."

Cloud and Aerith froze. Aerith glanced at Cloud.

_Did Yuffie just say 'Leon?'_ Cloud's blue eyes flickered back.

_I think so…_

"Um, Aerith?" the ninja asked hesitantly. Aerith turned towards her. "If it's possible, could I switch rooms with you tonight?" Aerith raised an eyebrow, while Cloud frowned. The spiky-haired blond sensed something was wrong.

"Yuffie, are you--?"

Yuffie turned around, fake-smiling. "Cloud, I'm fine, really! Please, just…I'm fine. I'll be back for dinner," Yuffie assured. Yuffie walked out, just in time to come face-to-face with Leon.

The Gunblade wielder looked surprised. "Yuffie."

"Leon," she said simply, and walked away. Too bad she left her heart with him.

* * *

The second Yuffie had said his actual name, he knew something was terribly wrong.

"Yuffie?" he said again, but the ninja-girl ignored him and walked away. Some part of him told him to chase after Yuffie. Leon refused to.

_I'll talk to her tonight._

* * *

Yuffie huffed, tossing her four-point shuriken and then running up the wall to catch it. Her breath was uneven as she sat on the wall, her eyes watching the sun set. Hollow Bastion was magnificent at twilight.

"Looks nice, huh?" a voice murmured as Yuffie stared ahead, still not surprised.

"Mm," Yuffie responded. "Aerith sent you to talk to me, right?"

"No," Cloud said, smiling, "I came of my own volition." He grinned at his 'younger sister.' "What's wrong with you?" Yuffie contemplated on whether to tell Cloud the truth. She decided against it.

"I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie! I don't _get _hurt!" Yuffie said.

"So it's about Leon, right?" Cloud guessed.

"NO!" Yuffie said a little too quickly. She shrugged, and then grinned, that evil smile coming back. "I'm fiiine, Cloud." She jumped off the wall, brushing her knees off as she grinned at the spiky-haired Cloud.

"I am **starving**!"

* * *

"I didn't do anything," Leon replied calmly. Aerith set more food on the table.

"She called you 'Leon!' Something must have happened," Aerith said. "Leon, Cloud told you not to take Yuffie for granted," Aerith warned. "I agree with him. She won't always be there."

"I doubt that I'll care. She's an annoying kid, Aerith," Leon responded gruffly.

"A kid that you care about," countered the flower-girl. "Deep inside of you, there is a part of you that cares about Yuffie. Maybe you even love her"-Leon snorted at this, but in reality he was afraid of admitting the truth-"but Leon, please don't treat Yuffie like a burden. She had feelings, too."

Leon sighed just as Yuffie walked in. Cloud followed suit as he sat down. He greeted Leon, and proceeded to eat as Yuffie sat down as well.

"Dinner is **awesome**!" Yuffie said enthusiastically as she dug into her food happily. Leon remained silent, but his attention was focused on the Great Ninja Yuffie sitting before him. The tension in the air was awkward until finally, Yuffie stood, holding her plate. "Um, Aerith?" Aerith turned towards her. "I'm going to the library. I, erm, have some flowers…er, books, I need to pick…ERM, READ!" Yuffie stuttered and then dashed out.

"Did she just say she needed to go to the library to pick flowers?"

No one answered Cloud's question. Leon stood, staring at where Yuffie sat three seconds ago. Wordlessly he stood and walked in the same direction.

_I need to talk to her._

"…Leon loves Yuffie, doesn't he?"

"More than he realizes, I think."

"He's taking her for granted," Cloud growled, his blue eyes dark. "Yuffie's my little sister. I won't let him hurt her."

"Oh, he won't, Cloud," Aerith said softly, touching him on the arm. "Trust me. They love each other. I know Leon won't let himself hurt her anymore. Leon…" Aerith bit her lip, and then smiled as Cloud pulled her towards him, pressing his lips gently against the flower-girl's.

* * *

She sat, reading a book while eating her dinner. Yuffie was stretched comfortably, her butt parked on the chair, her legs propped on the table in front of her. Yuffie wiped her hands messily on her shorts, and then stood, trying to put her book away.

"I hate being so short," she muttered. "Why can't anyone else be short! Well, Sora's short, but…"

A hand reached up and pushed the book in for her as Yuffie grinned. She thought it was Cloud.

"Thanks my big br-…" Yuffie paused as she saw Leon in front of her. His hand was still on the book, making the jersey he was wearing a lot less interesting than his long, muscular arm. "Oh. Erm, thanks…Leon…" said the ninja, picking up her plate slowly.

_Please let me walk away! Come on! God, if you're up there, you'd better let me get through without him saying anythi—_

"Yuffie." Yuffie paused in mid-step, glaring at the ceiling and shaking her fist.

"Yes, Leon?" she asked, turning around. Oooooh. Leon was much closer than she had expected as he stepped towards her. She stepped back.

"…What's wrong with you?"

"What do you mean, 'what's wrong with me?'" Yuffie asked. "I'm staying out of your way. Duh," she said, and then began to walk away.

"Yuffie!" Leon called, trying to get her to come back as he strode after her, grabbing her wrist.

He nearly choked as he saw what had happen. Her eyes, those bright, forgiving, indigo eyes were stained with tears.

"Let go of me, Leon," Yuffie said, trying to keep her voice even as she flashed a smile at him. Leon didn't let go; that smile was so fake, unlike the real ones that he was starting to miss.

"Please, let go, Leon!" Yuffie said again, her voice unable to stop quivering. Finally she pulled her hand free and dashed away quickly as Leon stared after her. The only thought on his mind was this:

…_I…made her cry…_


	2. Avoiding Squally

He never realized how much Yuffie was apart of his life until she was gone. Leon was starting to miss those smiles, those sunny laughs, everything about her—

but he had messed everything up, of course.

"Leon," Aerith said, "have you talked to Yuffie yet?" Leon swallowed thickly, and walked past her numbly, choosing not to answer the question. Cloud's intense blue eyes followed the figure.

"Leon. Have you talked to her or not?" Cloud asked in a much more demanding voice.

And at that moment, Yuffie chose to walk in.

"Morning Cloud! Morning Aerith! Morning…Leon!" she said in a bright voice as she opened a cabinet, taking a spoon out as she sat down and began eating cereal.

The air suddenly became tense as Leon stole a glance at Yuffie, who was still carefree and chewing away at her Frosted Flakes.

"…Yuffie, we have training today," he said, hoping to draw Yuffie into a conversation, or at least a bout of complaints.

"…Mmkay," she muttered in reply, taking another spoonful as she stared out into space.

Then the Great Ninja Yuffie stood, dumping her bowl into the sink. "On second thought, Leon, I'll train by myself." With that, she walked out the door.

A flower-girl, an ex-SOLDIER, and the Gunblade wielder all stared out at the door after her.

"Leon, you have to go after her!" Aerith said. Leon walked numbly back to his room, ignoring her advice.

_What am I going to do?_

* * *

Yuffie sat on a chair in the library. She had managed to get up there by crawling up the wall and into the room before checking around her, making sure that no one-especially Leon- saw her. 

"Avoiding Squally"-she still called him by his name when he wasn't there-"really sucks," she muttered, brushing off her shorts as she reached for a book on the shelf.

Especially because she was still in love with him, but that was beside the matter…kind of.

"But…Squally asked me to stay out of his life," she heaved a sigh, "so I probably should, right?" Suddenly Yuffie tossed her shuriken so it lodged in the ceiling. "ARGH! WHY CAN'T LIFE BE FRICKIN EASIER?!"

Yuffie looked upwards forlornly, her indigo eyes dark with pain. "Aww frickin…" she began to scale the bookshelf. "Stupid…frickin…shuriken…getting stuck…"

* * *

Training wasn't the same without Yuffie. Sure, Yuffie distracted Leon from training almost every second she had, but it just wasn't the same when she wasn't here. 

He was—as he feared—beginning to miss her: her bright laugh, her sunny smile, those damn indigo eyes that he could drown in…

Leon sliced the air again with his Gunblade as he stopped, dropping the weapon as he stared off into the sky. Yuffie had pointed it out to him so many times. She had told him to enjoy it, because someday, it might all end. Yuffie.

YuffieYuffieYuffieYuffieYuffieYuffieYuff- She was the only thing on his mind, and he couldn't bear to hurt her anymore, and—

_WHOA! Back up a second there! _Leon thought, his stormy grey eyes actually wide.

_This can't mean that I…_love_ her?!_ And as Leon stared into the sky again, now sitting on a rock, he nearly hit himself. _Oh shit_, he thought, _I just made things a whole lot worse._

Leon had hurt Yuffie.

Leon was in LOVE with Yuffie.

Yuffie was in LOVE with Leon.

Irony had a freakish, mean way of hitting people in the face, didn't it?

* * *

**KYAH! **There's the second chapter…I'm sorry it's so short TT I think the last one will be the end…? Meh, who knows…? Thankies:3 


	3. Scrabble

Taken For Granted

MeOw.

* * *

"Yuffie," Leon said softly. He was in the room they shared, sitting on his bed opposite hers. She had already gone to sleep, apparently, and was now in the bed, the covers obscurring her hair. For some reason it looked lighter than usual, but Leon shook it off as a trick of the light.

"Yuffie," he began again, "I'm...sorry. I...I didn't mean to...you know..." This was awkward, even if she was asleep. After all, Squall Leonhart was never one to apologize... "And...I..." He paused, taking a breath. "I don't want you to stay away from me," he said. "I didn't mean what I said about wanting you to get away. I _want_ you with me, Yuffie."

The covers shifted a little as Leon's heart leapt. Maybe, just maybe--

"Leon?" a sleepy voice murmured. His heart dropped. That wasn't Yuffie's voice. "Oh, sorry, Leon, forgot to tell you..." Aerith yawned, laying her head back on Yuffie's pillow. "Yuffie and I switched rooms..."

"And you couldn't tell me this earlier, _before_ I poured out what I felt?"

"Nope," Aerith replied sleepily, giving him a tired smile before getting up, sitting up in Yuffie's bed. "And since I just found out how you feel, why don't we talk?"

Leon sighed, preparing to go to sleep, before Aerith stopped him with a sigh.

"This is why your relationship is so muddled. You don't want to talk."

"..." _That may be true._ "Fine," Leon said, getting up again as he sat on his bed. "If it'll help with my situation with Yuffie..."

He gulped. "I'll talk."

* * *

Meanwhile, in Cloud and Aerith's room...

Yuffie sat on Aerith's bed, sniffling. Cloud was sitting next to her awkwardly, patting the ninja's back soothingly.

"He was just so mean that time, Cloudy!" Yuffie said. Her voice was sad with a tinge of anger in it.

"W-Well," Cloud said awkwardly, not sure what to do. After all, Aerith was the people person, not him... "I'm sure that Leon didn't mean it. He says a lot of things when he's angry, and..."

"But _Leon_ wanted me to stay out of his life, and all of a sudden he's trying to talk to me and everything!!" Yuffie groaned, slumping against the wall as Cloud stood, walking to the bathroom. "THIS SUCKS! I mean, he's like a frickin history book! He's so hard to read!!" Yuffie groaned again, aimlessly throwing a shuriken.

"YUFFIE!" Cloud hissed as he ducked quickly, the shuriken nearly grazing his perfect hair. The ninja smiled sheepishly.

"Whoop. Hey! Not my fault!! You got in the path of the shuriken!" Cloud shook his head with a sigh.

"Yuffie, how do you feel about Leon?"

The ninja remained quiet for a second. "IlikehimandI'vehadacrushonhimforawhileIguess..." she said quickly.

"So why don't you tell him?" Cloud had, amazingly, caught everything in that sentence.

"BECAUSE!!" Yuffie said, pouting. She stood, stomped her foot once, and then sat down again. "He'd reject me outright! I mean, he's all stoic and evil just because...because he lost someone! Well we've all lost a precious person too!"

Cloud remained silent as Yuffie continued to rant. When she finally ran out of things to call Squall, she finally slumped down onto Aerith's bed.

"So?" Cloud asked.

"So I like him. But I can't tell him."

"And?"

"And I'm afraid that if he talks to me, he's going to tell me that he hates me."

"And?"

"And I...I want to at least be his friend, if I can't be something more."

"...So?"

"...So I have to talk to him."

Cloud smiled. "Right."

Yuffie paused, sighing. Then a cheery grin spread across her face. "Heyyy Cloud-o! You're not as bad as you think!!" Yuffie gave him a good slap on the back as he winced momentarily.

"Wanna go to sleep?" he asked.

"No," Yuffie the Insomniac said. It was already four in the morning. "Tired, old man?" she teased.

"No," Cloud replied, choosing to ignore the 'old man' part.

"Wanna teach me how to play Scrabble?"

"You _know_ how to play Scrabble."

A pause.

"...So?"

* * *

"So what's your conclusion?" Aerith asked. They were having a much more calm and sensible conversation than Cloud and Yuffie.

"I don't know, Aerith," Leon muttered. He dragged a hand through his brown hair as he sighed. "I guess I'm...I don't know...nervous? Scared?"

"That's not a conclusion," she sighed. "And why would you feel like that?"

"Because...I guess I want to be able to protect Yuffie, and...somehow I'm the one that hurt her."

"So...?"

"I've tried talking to her, Aerith!" Leon groaned. "She's completely avoiding me!"

Aerith pursed her lips. For once, she didn't know what to do.

"I..."

Aerith turned her attention back to the struggling Leon, who was confused about his feelings. "I think I...might..."

"Love her?" Aerith asked flatly. "Yeah, Cloud and I figured that out a while ago."

Leon glared at her. Aerith smiled sweetly. She thought for a moment. If Yuffie was with Cloud right now, chances were that she was pouring her heart out to him. Cloud was probably trying to help.

"Try talking to her one more time," Aerith pressed.

"I told you! She--"

"Just try, okay, Leon?"

The Gunblade wielder sighed.

"Yeah. I'll try."

* * *

The morning air was tense as Cloud walked out of his room, ruffling the still-sleeping Yuffie's hair as he walked out.

Aerith was already making breakfast.

"Yuffie's _still_ sleeping? Cloud, what were you _doing _last night?" Aerith asked.

"..." Cloud remained silent, but one could see his left eye twitching as he recalled the Scrabble incident.

xx

_"I WON!"_

_"You lost."_

_"I WON! THAT'S NOT HOW YOU PLAY!"_

_"How the heck are you playing?!"_

_"...MY way! I won!" Yuffie did a victory dance. Cloud sighed._

_"Alright, now you know how to play Scrabble. Can we go to sleep now?"_

_"NO! Admit it! I won!"_

_"..." His left eye twitched. Cloud groaned._

_"You didn't win! You cheated! 'Zarbeg' isn't a word!"_

_"It so IS! Zarbeg is...um...an exotic fruit!"_

_"Oh son of a--Yuffie! JUST GO TO SLEEP!"_

xx

"We had an incident with Scrabble," he said. Aerith chose not to ask anymore about it. "What did Leon decide?"

"...He wants to talk to Yuffie. What about Yuffie?"

"She wants to talk to Leon..."

Cloud smiled. "Does this mean that you're sleeping in our room tonight?"

"Yeah." Cloud didn't hide his relieved expression. He came up behind Aerith, wrapping his hands around her waist as she leaned back into his shoulder.

"Good, because I don't think I can stand playing Scrabble with Yuffie one more night," Cloud muttered.

* * *

Yuffie pranced out of Cloud and Aerith's room, hopping to the table.

"Woot! Breakfast!"

"Yuffie," Aerith said, laughing, "It's one 'o clock."

"...Woot! Lunch!" the ninja cheered, biting into her food enthusiastically.

An awkward pause came upon them. "Erm...Aerith? Where's Squally--Leon?"

"Leon is training, I believe," Aerith frowned. "Hm...I think he's at training, at least. I'm not totally sure."

Yuffie nodded. She finished her food quickly, pocketing some shuriken and grabbing Conformer.

"Oookie dokeh, then, I'm gonna go find him."

"...Yuffie, be careful outside," Aerith warned. "For some reason, there are a lot of Heartless sightings today..."

"Aww, don't worry, ma," she said with a playful wink. "I'll kick their asses!"

With that, the ninja ran off.

* * *

Yuffie struck gold the first place she looked: in the secret waterway training area that she and Leon always used.

"..." She gulped, peeking to see Squall training. She took the first step forward. All of a sudden, Yuffie was feeling uneasy.

"I can hear you from a mile away," Leon said suddenly as Yuffie tensed, and then huffed.

_Leave it to Squally to interrupt one of my reflective thought times!_

Leon turned around, his hold on the Gunblade slacking a little as he ran a hand through his hair. Yuffie told herself not to stare at his face. His eyes were turned to the side, slightly out of focus, and his hair fell around him, framing his face. And, of course, that scar just totally added to his sexiness! Yuffie gulped.

"Squally--erm...Leon," she said awkwardly. Leon turned towards her, suddenly snapped out of his reverie. "I...erm, uh..."

Leon cut in, thankfully. "Yuffie."

An awkard pause.

"Yuffie, I..." he sighed, trying to find the right words. "I didn't mean what I said." Yuffie's expression was now that of a fish. "I...I do want you near me."

Suddenly the Gunblade wielder found himself in the water, Yuffie on top of him, hugging him. He tried to find the right words to say.

"That's all I needed to hear, Leon."

"It's Squall," he said softly. Yuffie pulled back from her attack-hug, surprised. Then, she smiled. A real, happy smile.

"Alright..._Squally._"

Leon suddenly jerked her downwards as her lips crashed onto his. He knew that this was wrong; she was seventeen, he was twenty-six.

Yuffie blinked in surprise, but kissed him back willingly, hugging him.

Ah, who gives a shit.

* * *

A Week Later++

Cloud and Aerith walked to Yuffie and Leon's room, about to knock and tell them it was dinnertime, when...

"I WON!"

"Yuffie, 'varkna' isn't a word."

"It so IS, Squally!"

"It's Leon! And no, it isn't!"

"Yes it is, _Squall!_"

"Alright, tell me what it means then!"

"..."

"That's right."

The sound of a Scrabble board hitting the wall made Cloud stifle his sudden laughter.

"That was childish," Leon's voice was calm, cool.

"SCRABBLE'S EVIL! YOU'RE EVIL!"

The sound of an 'OOF!'

"Why'd you tackle me?"

"BECAUSE! YOU'RE EVIL!" Yuffie's voice came from inside the room.

Then there was a long silence.

Aerith giggled lightly as she and Cloud walked back to the table.

"So now Leon's suffering the Scrabble issue, huh?"

"I swear, they're the weirdest couple ever," Cloud muttered.

Inside the room, Leon and Yuffie were still kissing.

"Aw, Cloud! At least they're in love!" Aerith giggled.

Inside the room, Yuffie just happened to fall asleep suddenly as Leon sighed. This girl was crazy. He brushed some ebony bangs away from her face as the girl suddenly shifted, grabbing onto his hand. She snuggled.

"S...qual...ly...Nn. Mine."

Leon smiled.

He was never, ever going to take her for granted.

_Ever again._

**And they lived happily ever after...**

Erm, until the next Scrabble game, that is.

* * *

Kya! I'm done!! Hope you guys liked! I want to start a new AU fic...Oooh. It's going to be:

Squiffie, Soriku, Clerith, AkuRoku, Zemyx...and yeah. Yaoi! Yay!


End file.
